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1. Don’t leave your wrist straps on and then walk around with them dangling off your arms like you’re some kind of “athlete.” Nobody gives a shit, dude, and you can’t possibly be using them for every exercise.
2. Don’t stand on shit if you don’t need to. I can’t imagine a single reason for a guy to stand on top of a box squat box to do shrugs unless he’s 3’7″ and can’t reach the hooks where the bar is (in which case he should just f-ing deadlift it). Yet I see this every day.
3. If there are ten different spots to do a particular exercise, and only one guy using one area, don’t use the area right next to him. Learn some f-ing spacial awareness.
4. Put your shit away. You’re not strong enough for anyone to have to clean up after you. I’ve been in gyms for the better part of 25+ years. I’m not taking plates off the bar for a sixteen year old kid.
5. Shut the f–k up.
6. There is no reason on God’s green earth for the settings on a glute-ham raise, every day, to be switched to having the footpads at the lowest possible setting and the half moon pad extended to where like 8 holes are showing. Last time I looked, I didn’t see any 8’2″ guys at my gym, and there is no exercise I can envision that requires a GHR to be set this way — so I assume it’s being used by people who have no idea what it is.
7. Stop posturing. There are 20 people in the gym who can whip your ass in a fight.
8. If you’re standing in line for something and it’s crowded and cramped, don’t repeatedly turn around. It irritates the guy standing behind you like you would not believe. This has nothing to do with the gym, but it’s sound advice.
9. While I’m at it, if you’re walking in a crowded pedestrian through-way, don’t stop walking. If you need to do this, pull over to the side.
10. When you take a leak, wash your f-ing hands, especially if there’s someone else in the bathroom who will know you didn’t do so.
That’s just from this morning.
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The Angry Coach is the strength coach, and also a positional coach, for a successful high school football program. Since 2001, an impressive number of his players have gone on to play college football, including several at the Division I and I-AA levels and two who have played professionally in the NFL. The Angry Coach has also worked with athletes at the college and professional levels in a variety of disciplines, including football, track and field, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, rowing and mixed martial arts (MMA). For professional reasons, the Angry Coach will not be using his real identity.
View The Angry Coach’s Training Log 
-Steal and hide dumbbells
-load an extra plate/unload a plate when someone is about to bench/squat and they aren’t paying attention (one side only)
-drop heavy weights near them
-curse
-say the word “faggot” out loud and its derivatives (fag, faggy, fag-shit)
-tell dudes to their face they are emo
-”Get the fuck out of my gym”
-Politely ask “are you using this?” about dumbbells or bar/plates, and if they are, say “not anymore” and take it
-take cable handle attachments during someones rest period and put it back in the box or behind the bar (especially D-handles for cable crossovers)
-throw half-full container of whatever beverage in the trash if its on a bench
Can’t think of anymore at the moment but these are some tactics I employed to get rid of the unwanted ones from my gym.
@ Oly, inverted rows can be performed at the smith machine. In fact, it’s easier to set the bar position, and no force is wasted on bar movement, should it jiggle. I also use my gymnastics rings to do them as well.
@Tommy
Good point. I forgot to mention that if I do have access, I much prefer using the smith machine for those reasons you described. Usually, however, given time and the volume of gym users, I tend to to just superset within the power rack. Regrettably, my gym prohibits using “your own additional equipment” such has rings for “safety reasons.” It is stupid, but hey, I wore them down to the point where I can do cleans (they had a silly sign prohibiting them due to not having bumper plates, but I reminded them that it is possible to do cleans without having to drop them recklessly), so there may be hope yet (though I am thinking of changing).
These commercial gym issues is exactly why I haven’t stepped in one for over 7 years. It took over 10 years, but I have my basement/garage gym done.
1. people who come to the gym to watch others, instead of using before researched knowledge to apply to their time at the gym.
2. Use squat racks for curls
3. the guy who always trys to compete with you when your doing your heavy deads, but will never go above 3 plates. Competition is great
4. I love the ladies and love to flirt, but i believe men and womens weight rooms should be seperate.
5. People who come up to you and say, ” yo how many more sets to you have?”. Yo man ill be done when i fckin leave the squat rack alright, geezz.
And thats just at the squat racks and bench, the only equipment i use.
Here is a great one, guy who puts 405 on the bench with 2 side spotters and a back spotter….and then when he gets this one struggled lift he screams AHHHHHHH…it really takes 4 guys to lift 405 really?
You bunch of whinnin’s sissy’s! STFU!
Have to say I have seen all of this and more…and I agree whole heartedly with one exception. Daniel – speaking as a woman, I go to the gym to lift, if my presence is so distracting to you that you can’t focus I would suggest you go elsewhere. The presence of a woman near the free weights is not an invitation for you to get your flirt on…we are there to work, so get over yourself.
dudes need to stop staring at other dudes. If you wanna size me up then do it and get on with your business, don’t fucking stare me down through my entire workout…. that shit irritates me.
@ daniel
getting mad about someone asking how much longer you’re going to be taking up the squat rack is ludicrous. Would you rather the guy just stand there eagerly awaiting your departure for your next 5 sets?
There’s this one young guy in the gym who uses the smith machine to do 1/4 squats with 4 plates and then leaves that shit on the bar. Then has the balls to look at me funny when I’m box squating w/ bands in the squat rack. Then there’s the million dollar question, why do you use bands? Uhhhhh nevermind jerkoff you wouldn’t understand! Oh yeah two more things to never do at the gym. One, salsa dancing in place between sets, WTF! Two bringing your chubby girlfriend to sit on the bench beside you and watch you curl 15lbs. F**K OFF! Common sense goes a long way in the gym, unfortunetly 60% of people are lacking it…..
I was being punished this weekend for missing a training day at my buddys gym. So I went to 24hr Sunday before the game. Had to wait 15 min for a rack, ofcourse the guy was doing curls in it with heavy weight, bar plus 2 1/2 lbs, asked how much longer, his reply I have 5 more sets. this should be number 1. Don’t freaking do light ass curls in the squat rack, when will this ever end. Never missing a training day at the garage gym again.
Oh and let’s add unless your a doctor on call, there is no reason to have a phone in the gym. Texting between sets shows how stupid one is, specially when someone is waiting for the squat rack.
This is no joke, I once watched a dude doing bench presses in a HammerStrength machine while talking on his cell phone, bluetooth in his ear etc. He was grunting and groaning with each rep while carrying on a conversation. I can’t imagine what the person on the other line must have been thinking.
I’m so glad to be able to train at home. I couldn’t imagine ever going back to a gym.
Alright, I feel awkward every time I do it but there is a legitimate reason to curl in the squat rack – I’m in a gym with no other straight bars than O-bars and the preloaded bars which don’t go in increments of 5. Sometimes I want to increase my curl by 5. Is this a crime? I swear I’m not doing it to look tougher than I am cuz I ain’t that fuckin big and I know it.
Yacking with your buds non-stop. If you would rather socialize than lift, go outside.
Yacking on the cell phone. There should be a rule that all cell phones go off when you enter the gym.
If I’m just starting on a piece of gear, don’t stand there waiting like a vulture. If you don’t want to work in, pick something else. Exercise order isn’t that damn important.
Don’t freaking talk to me during a set!
Don’t huddle up around your buddy while he’s doing a set. Does it really take all of you to watch him bench press?
And #1: Shut up and lift!
- people who whip out their flip HD every time their BFF pulls a 150 deadlift….who gives a shit!
- spitting on the floor, dude are you for real! clean it up then get the f%&$ out
- curling in the squat rack
- no phones!! It’s 7pm, fat dude walking round with bluetooth on AND phone in hand talking ‘business’. no discussion, you’re out and never coming back
that was yesterday
If your one of the butt plugs that can leg press 1200lbs but can’t squat 315 lbs. unload the machine. When your Mother comes in I don’t want to unload it for her.
Keep your political or religious views in the parking lot. I work for a YMCA and hear way to many people, conservative and liberal, saying their opinions very loud in an effort to get a reaction.
Clean your own area.
Treat the facility with at least some kind of a sense of respect.
If you’re doing skull crushers directly underneath one end of the barbell I’m using for good mornings, right next to the power rack i’m in, I WILL drop a plate with EVERY intention of crushing your skull.
again.
Put things back and unload the equipment when your finished. Why I have to unload 450lbs from the leg press before I can use it or walk around searching for stuff people just dropped where ever is beyond me.
People who do that shit are just rude.
I hate:
- Big huge guys that squat heavy weights and yell, chalk flying everywhere. It scares me.
- The laughs I get when I’m doing dumbell curls while sitting on a swiss ball.
- Getting kicked off the squat rack for doing 45 lb. curls. I like doing 12 sets of these and, oh the looks I get from the big ‘uns.
- Those big guys that slam the bar down on each heavy dumbell rep. It shatters my nerves.
Bad form upsets me. Dead lift, bench, and squat.
Whenever I see bad form I think to myself “what would Dave Tate do/say?”
@Daniel
Dude, you are doing to others what you are preaching right here what others shouldn’t be doing – being rude and inconsiderate in the gym. RESPECT. That other dude pays the same fees as you and has the same right to the equipment, so has every right to ask how long you’ll be so he can plan out his workout. Chill out bro!
1. Do what your Mum told you – put away what you took out or used!
2. Leave your phone in your car. You’re there to workout, not feel popular.
3. Half reps don’t count!
4. BRING A TOWEL – and FUCKEN USE IT!
5. Basically be considerate of others – the gym is not yours. Treat it and others with respect!
The ‘Its all you!’ Crew bugs me the most.
I hate the “I read this in a magazine so I’m a breathing walking bodybuilding encyclopedia”. Look we all have read the bs in those mags. So don’t come to the gym to interrupt me during a set just to tell me what some sh## tasting powder ad stated.
Ok for the some of the people on here commenting….its just coming off as whining. I believe in gym etiquette and I also believe there’s a lot of things that go on in gyms that shouldn’t and most start with those who do not know what they are doing or that have never been taught how to act in a gym properly. But if someone chatting on the phone while he’s working out or texting in between sets bothers you or ruins your workout, maybe you just need to focus a bit more on your work out than those around you. I completely understand if the guy is in rotation and holding every one else up bc they are texting or talking, but if they are like me and take at least 5-10 min in between my heavy sets to rest, why should you care what they are doing in that time. If you need the equipment, quit being a baby and sit in! Would you rather them just sit there and look at the bar while they rest. And for you people that hate curling in the squat rack, why dont you just ask them to move if you need it for something its intended for. Explain in a polite manner that it is not made for curling and they can just as easily pick it up off the floor or the preacher curl bench and that you need to use it for its intended purpose. Im sure most of them would move once you explained its intended use. There is absolutely no reason some one cant use the rack to curl if there isnt any one waiting to use it. I curl in the rack (bc most of the time im lazy on the day i do bar curls) but as soon as i see some one that needs it i move so they can use it. I’m sure others will too.
I’ve had someone come up and surprise spot me. And not just any spot, he actually grabbed it and racked it for me, even though I was moving the bar myself still. I was…upset.
They guy who did it proved himself to be very nice in the past, so I didn’t do anything, but I probably should have told him not to ever do that again at least.
when the safetybars on the squat rack are 6 feet off the ground and the pins are an inch below them, it doesnt even make sense what they could have been doing.
It bugs me when people grab their DBs off the DB rack and stand right in front of the rack doing their set so that no else can get in to grab their own DBs.
Saw a guy talking on his Bluetooth while he was set up in the power rack. He’d gab for a while, do a squat rep, walk the bar out while he was still yakking, do another rep. Obviously this doofus did not have enough plates on the bar!
You guys all sound pathetic. Especially you Daniel.
It’s a love-hate with commercial gyms for me. For one, the only gym around where I live that isn’t a franchise doesn’t have squat racks (no joke), but at the same time, the one I go to only has two and one of them is usually in use for ab strap exercises. I prefer to lift at home, but I only have 300 pounds of plates (which I can make do with most of the time with my current level of strength and zercher variations, but it’s nice to be able to deadlift conventionally), but I have no where to do pullups and dips. I made friends with the trainers so I don’t get any more flak for cleans and snatches, and having to put down weights quietly isn’t a problem (the guys that drop weights in commercial gyms are usually the ones screaming as they max deadlift 315).
But I hate people staring at me. I am not crazy strong, and I do not do crazy exercises, but because I don’t flat bench and curl (much), I get odd looks nearly every day I train.
Return the keys to the stereo system so we can stop listening to fkn elevator music…
I agree with Chris. Usually there’s no room for me to barbell curl but at the Squat rack but I at least never use the power rack. And newbs. No shit, today I saw some kid loading up the bar with the power weights that are rubberized so they looked like they’d be more weight for deads and this kid was using the shittiest form I’ve ever seen. More like spastic RDLs. I almost corrected him, but he was trying to show his friend how to do them too. And you can’t tell newbs anything.
@josh, let us know where you train so we can all kill you.
A very simple concept to understand about the gym is that it should be a fun and effective experience. There should be enthusiasm and purpose. What everyone is pointing out are the things that go against a simple philosophy. Work hard, work smart and have respect for other people.
The number one thing that gets me is how miserable a lot of people are in a gym. Yoga people, Runners, Triathletes, Spin and even power guys all have a fucked up attitude. They look constipated and have abrasive personalities.
These guys who can put up decent weight try to come off tough, but little do they know that I have more knowledge, strength and ass whooping ability than they do.
Cheer up fuck faces. Life is too incredible to be an asshole.
If wanting people who use the same equipment as me to wash their hands makes us elitist then I proudly accept that title.
Sounds like somebody’s hgh is getting to their head. Stop bitching and just lift. If you got a problem with the other people that workout at your gym go and try and see if your old high school football coach will let you relive your class 2a glory days, otherwise just shut the hell up.
everyone just needs to use common sense and be aware of your surroundings. Leave your cell phone and attitude in the locker room. Just lift, be supportive of others, and do not be an asshole. If you see someone doing something that could be harmfull, let them know in a nice way, if they do not like it, then tell them to F**k off and die.
I’m addicted….:)
This is for university gyms:
- Don’t come in with all your bros from the frat house and get indignant when someone else is using a piece of equipment that your bros all want to use. Working in only works with two or, maybe, three people, but not with five or six.
Or what about the assholes who stand right in front of the dumbbell rack doing their set completely blocking anyone else from getting the dumbbells they need?
Or also, if I’m in the middle of a set, and someone is walking inconsiderately and interrupts my set, I’ll kindly return the favor.